Corey hadn't been surprised that Candy had gone awol the entire day before. He knew it was bound to happen when it was the date of her ex boyfriend's death. He had respected it and had not reached out to her at all but that was yesterday and today was now.
His face dropped in surprise as he walked into catering and found her talking with Seth. Talking, not rolling her eyes or biting him off. Talking and actually looking at him and even better, she was smiling.
"Guess you two made friends," he said as he sat down.
"He's not that bad," she said.
"Likewise, Candy girl," Seth winked. "But, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Roman and Dean."
He stood up and Corey just watched Candy as her eyes followed Seth all the way out of catering.
"What happened? Two days ago you were ready to barbeque him alive," he said.
"I thought you wanted us to make friends," she said.
"I do but I'm surprised," he said.
"He's nice," she smiled.
"Nice?" He chuckled. "Since when do you find anybody nice?"
"You're nice when you're not acting like you are now," she said.
"I'm fucking awesome but not nice," he said.
She smiled innocently and slowly emptied her glass of juice while he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, not about to let her off the hook. She put the glass down and nodded.
"Alright," she said. "He came through for me when I needed it."
"What happened?" He asked.
"Ryan killed himself," she answered.
"One year ago but what... oh!" He caught on. "He was there for you yesterday."
"Not by choice. We kinda ran into each other and I had a minor breakdown and he offered me breakfast," she said.
"Breakfast?" He asked.
"Yeah, breakfast and coffee. It was nice," she said.
"There's that word again," he chuckled.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head before standing up from her chair.
"I gotta go," she said.
As she passed him, he grabbed her wrist and looked up at her.
"Hey, it's okay to like him. It's okay to move on," he said.
"Yeah, whatever," she said. "I really gotta go."
After finishing his dinner, Corey left catering as well. He walked through the hallways until he finally found the man he was looking for.
"Seth?" He called. "A word?"
"Sure," Seth answered.
They stepped aside so they could talk privately.
"I don't know what you did for Candy yesterday but thank you," Corey said.
"I didn't really do much but comfort her. I just happened to be there," Seth said.
"I'm still grateful. I can't imagine how hard yesterday was on her," Corey said.
"She's beating herself up about it, thinking that she might have been the reason for it," Seth said.
"That piece of shit!" Corey growled lowly.
Seth crossed his arms and watched the angry man in front of him.
"Something I need to know?" He asked.
"This is exactly why I kept it from her," Corey said.
"Kept what from her?" Seth asked.
"Nothing," Corey shook his head. "Forget I said anything."
"I can't really forget that," Seth said.
"Look, Seth, I know you come from a good heart but don't go there. She was so in love with him that she failed to see his flaws and believe me, he had many of them. All of them went by a female name," Corey said.
"He cheated on her?" Seth asked.
"Countless times," Corey answered. "So as sad as his suicide was, I was happy to see her free of him."
"So she just forgave him time after time?" Seth asked.
"I'm not sure she knew. I mean, I think she knew about some of them but she turned her blind eye and denied it," Corey answered. "Anyway, enough of that. Thank you for being there for her yesterday."
"Yeah, of course," Seth said.
Corey nodded and started walking away. Seth watched him go for a few seconds but he couldn't bite his tongue.
"Hey!" He called after Corey. "If you know something, tell her. She's never gonna move on unless she knows."
Corey waved his hand in the air to show he had heard Seth but he continued walking without turning around.
"And I really want her to move on," Seth added quietly.